


To Rule The World

by itachiphobia



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anti Naruto Ending, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, kishi why u did my kids dirty ;_;, platonic romantic whatever you want, suika - Freeform, suikarin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 12:46:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13411557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itachiphobia/pseuds/itachiphobia
Summary: Perhaps there may be some hope for those forgotten by the world.





	To Rule The World

Karin fought hard against her urge to sleep. The enemy was far away from them, but not far enough. The presence of their chakra was at significant distance from them, but there was a high chance that they might get closer should they choose to expand their search. Suigetsu sat across her with his legs stretched in front of him, his back supported by the walls of the cramped hole they had been hiding in. In the dark, she couldn't tell whether he was sleeping or not. He hadn't spoken in a while, and her throat was too parched for her to speak up and ask him whether he was okay. Silence did not suit the Kiri-nin.

Her question was answered when she felt his body shift next to her. "Yep, still bleeding," he rasped. 

It was dark, but she could imagine the state of his injured self: his bare chest covered with the blood from his wounds from his fight, the same blood that drenched the clothes she was wearing. She had to carry him all the way from where she had been imprisoned to here, in the middle of the dense forest on account of his possibly broken foot. Overall, his condition wasn’t something she couldn’t fix, but it wasn’t just any other day. 

She was drained of almost all her chakra and with whatever her captors had done to her, it seemed that she wouldn’t be regaining any for a good couple of hours.  _Idiot,_ she thought to herself as she glared at where she imagined Suigetsu was.  _Who_ _asked you to take on ten rogue shinobi at once?_

"It's not like I  _wanted_ to," Suigetsu retorted, as though he could tell what she was thinking. She wondered whether he could see her face since she was right beneath the opening of the hole. "Orochimaru asked me to go look for you."

"Yes," Karin said in a voice that was not her own. "You've explained that to me already." Something about what he said just didn't seem convincing enough.

"Why are you so mad? I came here to  _save_ you. A simple 'thank you' would suffice."

"You—" She began but then sighed, trying to calm herself down. "I could have gotten myself out. You just made matters worse by getting your ass handed to you. So much for 'saving' me."

"There was no way you were getting out of that place all on your own. You were absolutely miserable back there. Hell, you're miserable right now."

"I could say the same thing about you."

"My miserable state got us out of there."

"I had to  _carry_  you on my back all the way here."

"It was because I fought them off that you were even able to get here."

She sighed again, not wanting to prolong this pointless banter. "I could've gotten out. . ." she muttered under her breath. 

She was mad, yes. However, she realised that anger was not directed at him. It was directed towards her own self for getting them into this. For being captured by the rogue shinobi. For being mercilessly tortured by them for weeks. For being exploited indiscriminately. For  _allowing_ them to do so by simply giving in. 

It was because she was so helpless that Suigetsu was in this state. He was trying his best to sound fine and well, but she knew how bad his condition was. It must have been taking every ounce of his strength to even speak. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, the heat that kept increasing as the hours went by and the darkness of the night took over. She didn't know how long they had been hiding here, in the depth of the woods, but she did know they were running out of time. Suigetsu was in dire need of medical attention, something she could not offer at the moment. 

The impulsive idiot, in his haste, had run straight into the prison she was kept in, enabling her captors to drain him of chakra just as they did to her. They outnumbered him tremendously and attacked all at once. Having lost the ability to turn into water, he had also lost his greatest source of defense and, thus, was wounded. It took Karin everything in her residual power to get them out of there. 

"I wish I had the Executioner's Blade," Suigetsu blurted out all of a sudden. "Those bastards wouldn't even have seen me coming. This 'peace' has been dulling my killer instincts. Tough luck for someone who can apparently turn into water. Can you believe this? Me? Being injured? I don't think there's anybody more of ashamed of me than me."

Karin rolled her eyes. Even in this state, he could muster up the strength to utter things she absolutely did not care about. "Shut up, idiot."

"Even Nuibari would have worked. I never really properly learned know how to use it, but I think could've handled it pretty well. I don't really like Samehada, but that could've worked out too. The question is whether Samehada would like me or not. That is one hormonal sword. The amount of mood swings that thing can go through is  _insane_."

" _Please_ shut up." 

"Do you think I should steal the swords? All of them? They're just there, sitting idle. I can't let them go to waste. After all, I did want to collect all of them. I wonder why I just gave up on them. That's actually very sad of me."

"Suigetsu, shut up, or so help me God, I will leave you here all alone—"

"Why did we give up?" he asked, raising his voice and cutting her off. There was a certain solemnity to his words, something so sudden that it caught the red-haired kunoichi off-guard. Even through the dark, she swore she could see a slight gleam in his eyes. His question was vague, but it couldn't have been more specific than this.

"G-give up. . .give up on what?" 

Her words were followed by a long moment of silence. She waited for him to answer, but he remained quiet, perhaps thinking of something else. She swallowed the weight that had been building up in her throat. She knew what he was talking about. She knew very well.  _Why did we give up? On everything_ _?_ Those were the obvious unspoken words. 

Suigetsu shook his head. "Forget I said anything. It's not like I could actually accomplish anything. Assuming I get out of here, that is."

There was a slight waver to his feeble voice, a waver that made him sound more broken than he intended to let on.  He had finally stopped pretending he was fine. Karin's heart dropped. For all the time that she had known him, all he did was get under her skin. He was loud, annoying, and a jerk to her. But, no jerk deserved this, especially after a life of regrets and unfulfilled dreams. It was heart-breaking to see this side to his otherwise cheerful self. 

"Don't," she said. "Just, don't."  _You won't die here. I won't let you._ _You could accomplish so much more._

He huffed. "I appreciate the sentiment."

She looked away, adjusting her crooked glasses. "I think you need to get some rest. I'll be on the lookout."

"You'll be fine?"

"Don't worry about it."

She had promised herself to never feel this helpless again, that she wouldn't let anyone exploit her for their own use ever again. She would never go back to the life she had lived in the past. Even though she wasn't really free in a complete sense, she thought that maybe this peace would finally give her a shot at a life that could somehow be deemed "normal". It was a time of peace, but why were they the ones stuck in this cramped hole, essentially fighting a battle with death? While the world celebrated this so-called victory, here she was, with an outcast who had lived a life similar to hers in more ways than just one. Perhaps the concept of happiness did not apply to expendables like them.

Just as Suigetsu's eyes had started succumbing to sleep, he heard Karin's faint voice. "Maybe you could even rule the world someday.”

* * *

Suigetsu woke up to the sound of Karin's yells. 

"Get up! We have to get moving!" His eyes fluttered open to find her perturbed face hovering above his. "They found us." Before he could properly process what she had said, she was already crawling out of the hole. She stretched out her hand towards him once she was out. “Come on.”

It was now brighter outside—the sun was out. He noticed the fresh blood on her clothes and the bloodied kunai in her other hand. 

Still in a daze, he reached out to her. His back was sore, his chest and legs ached with excruciating pain. But he kept moving, noting the look of urgency in her eyes. She took a firm hold of his arm and pulled him out in one swift motion.

He gasped at the sight of a body lying in a pool of blood right next to the opening of their hiding spot—a rogue nin. It was a large man, his body nearly twice the size of Suigetsu's, lying on his stomach, completely still and unmoving. 

“Did you—”

“We don’t have time. Climb on my back.  _Now._ ”

_A monster. She was a monster._

He did as she said and put his arms around her neck, resting his chin on her shoulder. She held him by his legs and stood up, quickly taking off. It seemed like most of her physical strength had returned. Either that, or she was running solely on adrenaline. 

“I can sense them. They’re not far behind,” she panted, making her way past the trees. “I was able to regain some chakra throughout the night. It’s not much, but it would be enough to at least relieve some pain. We can’t really stop right now, so just bite my shoulder.”

His eyes widened. “What?! No way! That’s some kinky shit right there!”

She sighed in frustration. “Well, do you want to die of pain then? We don’t have an option! Bite my shoulder, damn it!”

“Ew, no.”

“I  _will_  leave you for dead. Don't test me.”

He sighed. The pain had grown worse. He had never resorted to using her chakra to heal, but that was because he would never have suffered from those kind of injuries. She was right, they didn’t have an option. He was being a dead weight and just adding to her troubles. 

“We’ll never speak of this again. Deal?”

“Yes, deal! Now bite me.”

“Sheesh, quit saying it again and again. You’re making it weirder.”

“Suigetsu!”

“ _Fine._ ”

He took in a deep breath, closed his eyes tight, and sank his teeth into the bare skin over the softer part of her shoulder. He was immediately met with the feeling of the chakra flowing into him from the bite, bringing some life into his sore body. The burning pain in his chest had started to gradually subside, allowing him to breathe a bit more freely. The relief he felt was enormous. 

_More. Just some more._ _._ _._

Karin’s pace had started slowing down and Suigetsu only realised what was going on when he could feel her stumble. He snapped out of his daze, he opened his eyes and immediately pulled away, drawing blood out of her skin. Karin groaned loudly. They were now leaning against a tree. She was completely out of breath. 

“Holy shit, are you okay?” Suigetsu gasped. “I just didn’t know when to stop. . .I just kept. . .” He kept pulling away, wanting her to let go of him. In his state, he had forgotten about how low her reserves of chakra were. If he were to keep going. . . 

“It’s fine,” she croaked, tightening her hold on his legs. “I’m okay. We don’t have time. We need to keep moving.” She pushed herself up, stumbling a bit, and stood up straight. 

“Are you sure you’re fine? You don’t sound okay. Put me down and we can—” 

“I’m fine,” she stressed as she started to pick up her speed again as if nothing had happened. “We absolutely cannot stop now. Tell me about you, do you feel any better?”

Her indifference towards her own state concerned him. Regardless, he pulled back slightly, looking down at his chest. “Some of the wounds have healed. They hurt less.”

“Okay. And what about your foot?”

He tried to move his left foot, but winced as pain shot through his leg.  _“_ _Ouch_ _._  Still broken.”

She nodded. “Your fever is down now at least. That’s something.”

“Are you really sure you’re okay?”

“Yes!” she assured, tired of being asked the same question again and again. “Quit worrying about me! Worry about your own ass for once.”

“Well, I. . .” he began, but held his words back. “It. . .it was my mission to save you. My top priority is getting you back.”

“Whatever,” she sighed. “For the last time, I’m fine. You can tell  _Orochimaru_  not to worry about me so much.”

There was a slight bitterness to her words, something he couldn’t understand. Her determination to get out was mixed with a kind of anger he couldn’t place. He chose not to say anything and simply to trust her. She had gotten them this far. 

Karin then found the strength to jump and take cover in the trees, jumping from branch to branch, changing her course every now and then. An hour or so may have had gone by like this—they had lost all sense of time. All they had was Suigetsu’s memory of the way out from the forest. But their priority was to get rid of their pursuers and only then follow the way out, in order to keep their enemy from predicting their path. 

The sun was high up in the sky now. They were nearing the edge of the forest. Karin’s exhaustion had finally started catching up to her. She finally took a moment to stop and use the opportunity to analyse their surroundings properly. She helped Suigetsu get off her back, and set him down on the tree branch they were on, giving her some much needed relief.

She couldn’t sense any presence of chakra around them, at least within a radius of a couple miles or so. It seemed to her that the rogue nin’s had started retreating back to their hideout. 

“So does that mean they’re giving up?” Suigetsu asked, once she explained the situation to him. 

“Definitely looks like it.”

“Does that mean we’re safe?”

“I think we are. For now.”

“Great. You need to get some rest then.”

“No!” she retorted. “We’re leaving,  _now._ ”

Suigetsu noted how she had paled and how her voice was so much weaker now. Even though her eyes still carried the same intensity and determination from before, her physical state said something else entirely. Suddenly, she stumbled and lost her balance, nearly falling over. Suigetsu shot up on his good leg to support her weight, without any regard to his own condition. 

“Look at you!" he yelled. "You really think you’ll be able to go on like this?!”

She could barely open her eyes, but she was just barely conscious. “I. . .need to. . .”

_She’s a monster._

“You need to rest, for goodness sake.” He took care in helping her sit down. “Do you have a death wish?!”

“I want to. . .I want to go home. Please. I need to. . .”

Suigetsu gulped, swallowing the weight in his throat.  _Home_ _?_ _Why would she. . ._

For a brief moment that Suigetsu sat in close proximity of Karin, they held each other’s gazes, their faces just a mere inches apart. Karin gritted her teeth as she looked at him, her eyes gleaming with the tears she was trying to hold back. In that moment, Suigetsu could finally see through her and realise how broken, how really broken she was. She wasn’t okay, not just physically. She hadn’t been okay for the longest time. He had seen a similar look on her face so many times before for all the years that he had known her, but those expressions never truly fully exposed her. He couldn’t understand what it signified. It was only now that it truly sank in. He immediately pulled back, putting a distance of a couple of feet between them and looked away. She seemed so. . .vulnerable. More than ever before. 

“We don’t really have a home, do we?” she breathed. “What if we do get out? We’ll go back to Orochimaru, continue working for him for ‘peace’ like we have been for the past decade. No questions asked. No fucks given. That’s not home. That’s. . . _nothing_.”

Suigetsu remained silent as he stared into a distance, because he knew he had nothing to say. Because what she was saying was right. There was no other way of looking at their situation. 

She let out a low, bitter laugh. “And here you were, trying to make me feel better by acting like someone does give a damn about me.” 

He furrowed his brows, still not looking at her. “What do you–?”

“Orochimaru didn’t even ask you to come and get me, did he?”

A flash of surprise appeared on his face, but then it was quickly replaced by defensiveness. “He did send me. Why would you think—?”

“Stop. Just stop lying.” Her voice and features were softer now, a ghost of a shadow on her face. 

Suigetsu gulped again. He wanted to protest, but he knew that no matter what he said, she wouldn’t believe him. He wasn’t very good in lying and getting away with it. Especially not when it came to her. 

His silence gave her the response she needed. Her tears were now gone. The sadness in her eyes was replaced by something indistinguishable. He couldn’t read her face. 

“You really think Orochimaru would give a damn about me anymore, now that he virtually has no risks to his life or health? Now that he has the support of the Hokage? You really think he would care about expendables like us?” 

She didn’t sound angry or frustrated. She said those things as though those facts were a given, as though nothing could be done about it. 

She was right.

“I’m sorry,” was all that he could respond with. 

She shook her head slightly but didn’t say any more. Her silence was unsettling, but Suigetsu chose not to say anything, not because he thought it was right, but he didn’t know what to say. He was never a man of sensible words. And whatever words he did use before this ended up in him getting pummelled. It would be best to stay silent. 

She rested her head on the back of the tree and pulled her knees to her chest, concentrating on assimilating some chakra. He let her be and decided to focus on his own self for the time being. 

Unlike her, he still was incapable of building up any chakra because of his low stamina. His foot carried a dull ache and his injuries didn’t hurt as much as they did before, but they had healed to an extent. Overall, his body was still of no use. The rogue nin were in possession of knowledge of powerful techniques that rendered them both in this state, something he could’ve cared about more if this was any other day. Right now, he had to focus on recovering somehow. 

“Thank you.”

Karin’s voice was so low that he could barely hear her. 

“What?” he asked, having trouble understanding her words. 

She didn’t meet his gaze as she sighed. “I said,” she rasped, “thank you.” Her cheeks gained some colour as she fixed her glasses. “Uh. . .thank you. . .for. . .” She sighed again. “For giving a damn about me.”

He just blinked. 

Karin’s cheeks grew redder. “You don’t have to look at me like that! I just wanted to—”

“You don’t have to,” he cut her off. She furrowed her brows, her lips still parted. “It’s alright.”

“But—”

“I just did what I wanted to. That’s all there is to it." He grinned. "I’m glad we could make it out alive.”

A faint smile played on her lips, as her shoulders relaxed. “I’m glad too.”

This little moment was alien to them, yet it seemed strangely welcoming. They had never been the accommodating type with each other. Perhaps it was the fact that they had known each other for years that gradually built up for them to reach this level of understanding. It was alien, yes, but it was also sort of known to them.

"About your question," Karin spoke up, a slight hesitance to her voice. "About why we gave up?"

He looked at her, surprised as to why she would bring it up now. "Y. . .yeah?"

"I don't know why I'm telling you this," she said, "But, your question was sitting in the back of my mind for so long and I just. . .needed an answer. Why did we just. . .give up?" 

Suigetsu nodded slightly, gesturing her to continue.

"I've been thinking, and I think I understand why. As much it hurts to think about it, I guess it's better than living in complete denial. I just needed some closure in the form of an answer, and I think I just came up with one."

She looked down, fumbling with her hands. He waited, curious about what she would say.  _You’re not the only one looking for the answer_ , he thought to himself. 

"I suppose I found it easier to just. . .just go along with everything. The war was over, we were apparently at peace, and Sasuke—" a flash of sadness appeared on her face. "Sasuke was gone, and there was nowhere for me to go. No family, no home, nothing. So. . .I just let everything be as it was. Let it all just happen, and put my future completely up to fate. It's not like I had a say in how I was going to live my life."

Suigetsu felt his stomach churn.  _Why did this make so much sense?_

"I just gave up. That was it for me. Perhaps I should be grateful with what I have. But after today, I realised that even I deserve better." She paused to take in a deep breath. "That we both deserve better than  _this_."

He didn't respond.

She waved it off. "Sorry. Didn't mean to get this real. I just wanted someone to know. Better you than no one."

"No, I. . ." he began, "I understand. Our life is just a pile of fuck ups. And it's not even our fuck ups."

Karin pursed her lips. "I'll drink to that."

The thought of it was sad, but at least they had figured out an answer. Well, at least she had. It was strange, but it felt like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders. 

_Does it have to be this sad?_

"Say," Suigetsu scooted a bit closer to her. "If you had the choice to start all over again, what would you do?"

She eyed him doubtfully, a slight surprise reflected in her features due to his change in tone. "What do you mean?"

"You know, if you weren't living this shitty life, and you had some control over what you can or cannot do, what  _would_ you do?"

She smiled her first genuine smile in the longest time. His purple eyes gleamed with childish excitement, something she hadn't seen in a while.  _What a strange question,_ she wondered.

"You'd snatch up Sasuke, wouldn't you?"

"What?! No!" She slapped his bicep. "Idiot, no! Why would you think that?!"

"I don't know, but that creepy smile could’ve meant that one thing."

"Shut up! I have moved on!"

He chuckled. "Oh really? Then, what would you do?"

Her face fell into thought. "I'd open up a perfume shop," she said after a long moment of contemplation.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "That's boring."

Her cheeks heated up. "That's not boring! Perfumes are nice. I like them." She crossed her arms.

"Come on, Uzumaki, you gotta think bigger."

"Sorry, but what does 'bigger' even mean?"

He flashed a toothy grin. "I, for one, would rule the world."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Sounds crazy, I know—"

"It  _is_  crazy."

"—but, given the power, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"Pretty sure nobody can rule the world in a heartbeat, but sure."

"I just need to get my hands on the Seven Swords, and then you will see.  _You will all see._ "

" _Sure_ ,” she mimicked his voice. “And I'd sprout wings."

"I could even kidnap Sasuke," he winked. "Only for you m'lady."

She gritted her teeth. "Will you stop it with the Sasuke thing already?!"

"I could even give you that stupid perfume shop that you want. You could live your boring little life too I guess."

"It's not boring."

"Don't you have something else on your mind other than the perfume shop?"

"Well," she pondered, "maybe a clinic?" He parted his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. "I know, it's  _boring_ for you. Not as flashy as ruling the world, but I think that'd be cool enough for me."

He sighed. "Fine, I'll give you your stupid clinic too."

"Once you rule the world, that is."

"I  _could_ rule the world. You don't know that."

She scoffed. "Alrighty, enough of that." Karin looked up at the sky, a sombre expression on her face. She slowly stood up. "As much as it was fun living out little fantasies, I'm afraid we have to get back to reality." Suigetsu frowned at her words. "We  _don't_ have that power, and we  _don't_ live in that perfect world. All we have is the hell we're living in."

"You have to take the fun out of everything, don't you?" He pouted with slight exaggeration.

"Come on, chop chop. We need to get going." She stretched out her hand to him. "I've recovered enough to get us back to our hideout."

"So, we're going back to hell?"

She smirked. "I guess we are."

It was true. They had no alternatives and this was reality, sad as it was. They didn't have the power or the courage to change anything, and the hell that had been created for them was their only hope at survival. However, after this day, going back to that very hell didn't seem so daunting anymore. Somehow, her words weren't as sad as they seemed to be.

He smirked back and took her hand. "Guide us out, then."

* * *

The forest was far behind them, and they were headed back to the nearest hideout, the one Juugo was assigned last Suigetsu heard. They had passed a couple of villages in the past couple of hours. It was amazing how easily Karin had carried Suigetsu all the way out here. Adrenaline and desperation could only take someone so far.

They travelled in silence. There was no tension between them, and Suigetsu doubted that there ever would be any after this day. He just thought of how he could repay the woman before him once they got back; the woman for whom he had newfound respect for. 

Karin figured he had fallen asleep at some point, his fatigue getting the better of him, since he hadn’t spoken in a long time. She took care in carrying him, not wanting to wake him up. At least one of them should be getting some rest. 

“Hey, Karin?” he suddenly said, breaking the hour-long silence between them. He sounded drowsy and was probably half asleep, so she figured he was mostly speaking subconsciously. She recalled from her days in the Taka that he had been quite the sleep-talker. 

“Mhmm?” she responded, just to amuse herself. 

“Want to rule the world with me?”

Heat rushed up her cheek as she felt her body go stiff for a fraction of a second. She huffed, pushing the strange feeling brewing in her stomach away. The corners of her lips twitched into a small smile. 

“Shut up, idiot.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please do leave some reviews! I'd love to know what you thought of this story. I personally loved writing this, even though I don't really ship them. I just want them happy ;_;


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